I would just like to talk about the latest book I have read, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I finished it exactly a week ago (last Thursday) and none of my friends have finished it yet!!

First of all, I would like to say right now I am starting Return of the King, and I think I like the Harry Potter series better than the Lord of the Ring series. My main reason, you don't read about 100 pages of walking in Harry Potter, unlike the many time in Lord of the Rings where Tolkien takes a dreadfully slow pace writing about the scenery the characters are passing by, however I still like LoD.

For anyone who has read OotP (order of the phoenix), what did you think about it? I think it was the best one yet, and has some of the best character development I have ever read. However, J.K. says Hagrid is one of her favorite characters? I found myself finding out how unnecessary Hagrid as a character in OotP really is! He kept slowing down the plot and I found myself skimming through the parts with Hagrid... it is getting old of Hagrid making the same old mistakes, and he is very boring...

In order to not spoil the book for anyone, I won't say anything about the Character that died, but without revealing a lot I will say this: Umbridge is truly the character I have hated the most out of all Harry Potter books. I didn't hate here in a sense of "I wish she wasn't in the book", she was an extremely necessary character, but as evil as it gets almost...

Well, I'm only going into 10th grade, so I probably fit better into the targeted age group, but I know plenty of adults who read Harry Potter... I first several books (especially the 1st and 2nd) are definitely more for kids, but the later 3 books have been increasing in age, if you know what I mean.

Tim,
A part of me wants to tell you to remember to read the classics, especially at your age. Poe, Dante, Hugo, and some of the more modern classics like Catcher in the Rye, On the Road, and Slaughterhouse Five. I guess Harry Potter is a modern, modern classic already. But don't forget the old school!

Don't worry, I have to read The Odyssey (sp) this summer and some other book that has a french title I think. This is all b/c this school year I will going into the "enriched" language arts program in high school and they have summer reading so the first thing you can do when you get back is start writing essays! Actually I would rather write essays than take a test on the book, I am horrible when it comes to reading and then taking tests, well, I mean not as good as I am in other subjects (like I get a B+ in the reading parts). But that is actually why I am taking the enriched, in order to strengthen my weaknesses if you know what I mean. But with all the Spanish I have to learn (and am learning) over the summer (I'm skipping a level), it doesn't look like I'll have time for more classics than the required for next year.

Huge hp fan over here. Same age as you from the sounds of it. Going into 10th grade.. The book was good, but I personally found the first 250 pages very slow and hard to get into. Maybe it was just me, no one else seems to think like that, but it seemed to drag on forever. Once it hit around page 350 it started to get good.

I still can't believe that she killed of... I mean, of all characters, that was probably my fav.

I didn't find the parts with Hagrid to be slow at all, but I've always had a soft spot for him anyways. Truely a one of a kind. Didn't much care for his brother tho...

I definitally did not like Umbridge either, cruel woman. Glad shes gone.

Love Fred and George's ending. Truely a way to make a memory, and the fact that the teachers left part of it there was touching as well.

I finished the book the day after it came out, and have been patiently waiting for my friends to finish... No one I know seems to be done with it either. Painfully slow at it.. Want to save it for there vacation..

Never read the LoR series myself, can't seem to get into them. Read the first 26 pages in the first one probably a dozen times, but always fall asleep before I can get any further.

As for the old classics, I haven't read many of them. Hate sad endings... However, did read To Kill A Mocking Bird several times. One of my fav books no wonder it's a classic. Read Of Mice and Men, didn't like it. Read Where the Red Fern Grows, didn't like it.

I haven't read any Harry Potter books. Enjoyed the movies so far, but I much prefer the Lord of the Rings series. I suppose if I were younger I might not think so, but the sheer size of Tolkein's tale is enough to grab me and captivate me, even through the long descriptive pages. Those pages and pages of descriptiveness made the massive mines of Moriah all the more real in my mind, though.

Pooky, I definitely have to agree with you that the character that died was definitely my favorite, no doubt, and that the movies are NOTHING in comparison to the books!

Also, J.K. made a wonderful connection from Book 3... At the end when Trelawney went all blank and made the prediction about Voldemort, Dumbledore refers to that prediction coming true in book 4 and says "Well, that amounts to 2 true predictions Prof. Trelawney has made...". I never would have thought J.K. would have brought that back, amazing.

Its not the descriptvness I mind, but sometimes the characters are walking for an amazingly long amount of time, it is a good series though...

Aye, the chamber pots room was the room or requirements. Didn't think we'd here about that again. Dumblebore mentioned that last book, at the Yule Ball. But just as a passing note. One of my fav series.. Now, if July 15th would just hurry up and get here...

hahah. harry potter? i read the first book several years ago. i thought it was kind of silly. especially... that part where he has to chase flying balls? 8) err... how does this book appeal to you all? (not trying to be offensive, curiosity) :lol:

I read the Harry Potter OoTP as soon as it got here in the mail. Only took me 2 days. I read the LoTR series already and then went on to reread the Narnia series as C.S.Lewis wrote it at the same time as tolkien. Love the books. Bit of a bookworm here as we get lots of Snow on this part of the island.

err... how does this book appeal to you all? (not trying to be offensive, curiosity)

I think some people get "it" and some people don't. It's all in how your brain works

Some of my fav authors and books are, David Eddings, Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks and Dragonlance.

Last time I tried to tackle Tolkien I was about ummmm 8. I couldn't quite get into it, so I opted for a different genre.
I started reading Sue Grafton and Dean Koontz and to this day, they are still 2 of my favs.

On a lighter note. If it is bubble bath night, then I opt for a cheesy harlequin romance :lol:
Now you can see how my brain works

yeah i never really enjoyed those books much either, i think james clavell is an excellent writer i would reccommend his books to everyone. I also enjoyed tom clancys earlier books but his later ones have really become sell outs in my opinion and dont live up too his less famous days.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Planted Tank Forum forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.